Free festival to celebrate roles in the care profession

The countdown is on to Wednesday 24 October when Truro’s Lemon Quay will be taken over from 10am to 4pm by a group of amazing people. Care providers and care workers from across Cornwall join with some of those whose lives have been transformed by the care they have received to show why they are all Proud to Care.

The Proud to Care festival is about celebrating the exciting and inspiring work which is being done by social care providers and health organisations, to share the stories of the people they care for and encourage more people to consider a career in Cornwall’s care sector.

The whole day has been designed to be interactive, with all those taking part determined to show the difference the right kind of care can make to people’s lives and challenge some of the myths which are putting people off joining the care profession. As well as demonstrations of equipment and technology, there will be lots of opportunities to talk with people currently working in health and care.

Everyone is invited to attend with a wide range of fun attractions on offer for all age groups, including face painting, a magician, music, singing and dancing. There will be free food prepared by volunteers from Café Chaos and local businesses have donated raffle prizes.

An ageing population is already placing huge demands on over-stretched social care services, demands that are set to increase over the coming decades.

To find ways to meet this demand and attract more people into care roles, social care providers have joined forces with Cornwall Council, the voluntary and community sector, local education institutions and health organisations, including Royal Cornwall Hospital, under the banner of Proud to Care Cornwall. The Proud to Care initiative covers the whole of the South West and aims to improve the public’s views of the care sector and help more people build a rewarding career in care.

The event will be officially opened at 10am by Rob Rotchell, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, and Lindsay Southcombe, the Mayor of Truro.

“Care workers provide an essential service to the community and to those who need care.

“We expect there will be an extra 30,000 new care jobs needed in the South West by 2025 to meet the needs of the growing and ageing population – this is a role which is going to be needed in every community across Cornwall.

“Alongside making sure we have sufficient carers, we also need to find different ways to deliver social care services such as making use of developments in technology and ensuring people have information on ageing well so they need less support.

“This festival aims to bring all this together in a fun, interactive day.”

One of the ways Cornwall Council is helping make caring roles more attractive is by requiring care providers with new contracts to pay their staff a minimum of £8.75 an hour in accordance with the foundation living wage. The Council has also signed the Ethical Care Charter, which improves conditions for frontline carers.

The festival is made possible with the help of Pluss through their Big Lottery and ESF funded ‘Positive People’ programme who, together with Cornwall Council, are the main event sponsors.

Chief Executive of Pluss, Steve Hawkins said: “There has never been a better time to join the care sector with a range of rewarding roles with great career prospects available.

“Our Positive People programme provides support to people across the region to build up their confidence and access activities in their communities. Some of our participants will have both experienced and provided care at some point in their lives so it is very important that we support more people into the care profession.”

Story posted 19 October 2018

The countdown is on to Wednesday 24 October when Truro’s Lemon Quay will be taken over from 10am to 4pm by a group of amazing people. Care providers and care workers from across Cornwall join with some of those whose lives have been transformed by the care they have received to show why they are all Proud to Care.

The Proud to Care festival is about celebrating the exciting and inspiring work which is being done by social care providers and health organisations, to share the stories of the people they care for and encourage more people to consider a career in Cornwall’s care sector.

The whole day has been designed to be interactive, with all those taking part determined to show the difference the right kind of care can make to people’s lives and challenge some of the myths which are putting people off joining the care profession. As well as demonstrations of equipment and technology, there will be lots of opportunities to talk with people currently working in health and care.

Everyone is invited to attend with a wide range of fun attractions on offer for all age groups, including face painting, a magician, music, singing and dancing. There will be free food prepared by volunteers from Café Chaos and local businesses have donated raffle prizes.

An ageing population is already placing huge demands on over-stretched social care services, demands that are set to increase over the coming decades.

To find ways to meet this demand and attract more people into care roles, social care providers have joined forces with Cornwall Council, the voluntary and community sector, local education institutions and health organisations, including Royal Cornwall Hospital, under the banner of Proud to Care Cornwall. The Proud to Care initiative covers the whole of the South West and aims to improve the public’s views of the care sector and help more people build a rewarding career in care.

The event will be officially opened at 10am by Rob Rotchell, Cornwall Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, and Lindsay Southcombe, the Mayor of Truro.

“Care workers provide an essential service to the community and to those who need care.

“We expect there will be an extra 30,000 new care jobs needed in the South West by 2025 to meet the needs of the growing and ageing population – this is a role which is going to be needed in every community across Cornwall.

“Alongside making sure we have sufficient carers, we also need to find different ways to deliver social care services such as making use of developments in technology and ensuring people have information on ageing well so they need less support.

“This festival aims to bring all this together in a fun, interactive day.”

One of the ways Cornwall Council is helping make caring roles more attractive is by requiring care providers with new contracts to pay their staff a minimum of £8.75 an hour in accordance with the foundation living wage. The Council has also signed the Ethical Care Charter, which improves conditions for frontline carers.

The festival is made possible with the help of Pluss through their Big Lottery and ESF funded ‘Positive People’ programme who, together with Cornwall Council, are the main event sponsors.

Chief Executive of Pluss, Steve Hawkins said: “There has never been a better time to join the care sector with a range of rewarding roles with great career prospects available.

“Our Positive People programme provides support to people across the region to build up their confidence and access activities in their communities. Some of our participants will have both experienced and provided care at some point in their lives so it is very important that we support more people into the care profession.”